


Sparsed Stars

by ginafics



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hufflepuff/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 03:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginafics/pseuds/ginafics
Summary: Johnny knows about the deatheaters' plan to sacrifice Yuta to raise the Dark Lord.In order to neutralize Yuta as a threat, he starts wooing him in hopes that he’ll fall in love with Johnny and won’t focus on ending the world.





	Sparsed Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I am very excited to finally publish this!! This has been on my laptop ever since I saw the [prompt](https://twitter.com/yellowsannie/status/1106081707512422400?s=19) from Z. She let me borrow her baby and now she is here!
> 
> I really want to thank Niva for betaing my work and for being the best source of ideas for this fic to actually happen. Thank you so much, I am nothing but dust without you!! 💕
> 
> TW: There is a very small implied domestic abuse somewhere near the end.
> 
> I really hope you guys like this!

“What?!” Johnny winced at Taeil’s raised voice. Despite being a Gryffindor, his best friend had never been a part of the raunchiest bunch that people always accused them for. Johnny had a lot of bad ideas before, but perhaps this is where Taeil drew the line. “Johnny, please tell me you’re kidding. I know it’s a part of your Hufflepuff’s flare to help others and all, but this is too much... even for you.”

Johnny shrugged because he really didn’t have any other explanation besides, “He doesn’t deserve to be used like that.”

“He actually does,” Taeil muttered. “Ow! That hurts!” Taeil continued to whine right after Johnny’s punch collided with his arm.

“He doesn’t,” Johnny said sternly, “he already got his detention for accidentally blowing up your cauldron in second grade. Besides, it was second grade, Taeil, what the fuck?” Taeil grinned as he put both of his hands up in surrender.

“I’m just messing around, but for the record, I’m against this idea of yours, Suh. He needs help yes, but it doesn’t have to come from you.”

“Should we just wait around and do nothing, then? Because I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who knows, Taeil.”

Taeil just rolled his eyes. “I bet you 20 Galleons that you’re not the only one who knows. That whole damn house is full of snakes, John, they’re bound to know.” Johnny went silent at that. That was something he couldn’t fight against. The purebloods were just like a gossip cartel, everyone knew what was up before it was even progressing. A tired sigh brought Johnny’s eyes back to the guy in front of him.

“Are you sure this is going to work? Are you sure you can manage to anchor him before the school year is finished? We’re in the 7 th year, Johnny; once we graduate…” Taeil shook his head minutely, “this is probably your only chance.”

“I’ll try my best. I swear I won’t go crying to you if I failed.” Johnny looked at Taeil with as much conviction as he could muster from his body. This was not an easy task, might even get dangerous if Johnny wasn’t being careful. He saw the moment Taeil’s eyes surrendered.

“Fine, go woo Nakamoto Yuta.”

* * *

 

Yuta doesn’t understand everything that has happened for the past 10 minutes. Just as per usual, he had arrived about half an hour before the Hogwarts Express’ departure schedule. Platform 9 ¾ was crowded, of course, but it was also two times better than a few minutes before the rush hour actually happened. At least, there were less screaming because the younglings tend to come at the last minute. Not only that he managed to avoid the crowd, Yuta had also succeeded in snatching an empty carriage. He put the bag he used and Esme’s cage on the seat across him, knowing without a doubt that no one would dare to even knock on the carriage door. No one had ever dared to approach him for the past 6 years, he didn’t expect a lot in his 7 th year. Perhaps his brooding aura played a part, though he was pretty sure the Nakamoto’s name played a bigger role. And so he comfortably let himself being pulled into one of his new book’s plots, while Esme sleepily purred beside him.

Well, apparently Fate decided against his happy and peaceful state of life. A sudden knock on the door made the two occupants in the carriage jump slightly. Yuta almost glared poisonously at the person for waking Esme up, but the tall figure on the other side of the door confused him more. Seo Youngho, the Hufflepuff’s Seo Youngho, was there, all smiling and happy. Yuta stayed there staring at Youngho’s figure in dumb silence because first, Youngho was smiling  — _ at him? _ And two, Youngho was not making any move to open the carriage. He decided to open the door for the tall figure without moving an inch from his designated seat; the more inch he put between them, the better.

“Hi!” the cheerful voice suddenly filled his carriage, ignoring the quiet ambience it just ruined. Yuta didn’t answer  — didn’t even react when Johnny invited himself into the carriage; his eyes trained solely on the 6 feet something happy figure with his luggage being towed behind him with wariness.

“Uh, I know this might be sudden, but the rest of the train is full and I notice that you have a space for one more person. Do you mind sharing the space with me?” Youngho had said before awkwardly scratching his head. Yuta is completely baffled. He was simply enjoying what was probably his only peaceful time before the chaotic part of his life started, and now there’s a bashful Hufflepuff  — _ the  _ Hufflepuff, because Seo Youngho was never ordinary — in front of him asking for a seat.

“Uh, Yuta?” Yuta flicks his eyes away when he realizes just how long he has stayed silent and proceeds to float his things on the other seat to the shelf above them. “Thank you!”

It’s a little bit too radiant, Yuta thinks about the smile that he receives after.

 

They spend the first hour of the train ride in total silence. Yuta puts his entire focus onto the narrative of his novel, and leaves Youngho to do whatever he wants. Until it becomes apparent how Youngho can’t sit still in silence to last the entire ride. Yuta is not sure whether putting his book down will worth sparking a conversation with the man in front of him, so he doesn’t even try. He doesn’t have to, though, because Youngho is the kind of person to take initiative and strike a random conversation.

“Yuta?” the Slytherin takes a deep breathe before putting his book away to face Youngho.

“Yes?” there’s a strain in his voice, as if responding costs him a great effort.

“Can I pet your cat?” Youngho’s bashful smile only irritates him even more because Youngho is  _ Youngho.  _ The picture that Yuta has conjured of  _ the _ Hufflepuff Seo Youngho is not a 6 feet of bumbling shy mess and bashful smile who coos at someone else’s cat. Seo Youngho is the only first year student who dared to defy the Sorting Hat’s decision of putting him into the Gryffindor House just because his newly appointed best friend is in Hufflepuff and he’s good enough to be in Hufflepuff with his best friend. Seo Youngho is the first second year to be the keeper in Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Seo Youngho is the one who single-handedly helped  Hufflepuff to win The House Cup in third grade just because he managed to ace all of his exams, even though he was bedridden in the infirmary for more than three weeks after a quidditch game gone wrong. Seo Youngho is the youngest Quidditch Team Captain that Hogwarts has ever witnessed and who managed to lead his team to victory in his fourth year. Seo Youngho is the best prefect Hogwarts had ever seen in the past decade because very little mischief happened that year and Yuta had always thought it was because they were afraid of Youngho’s tall figure. Seo Youngho is supposed to be the best student to ever graduate from Hogwarts from his year  —their year . Seo Youngho, through Yuta's eyes, is smart, and poised, and strong, and scary  — well, as scary as a Hufflepuff can be. Apparently Yuta is very wrong in every aspect of Seo Youngho he can guess because there is no way he would actually know the guy as if they’re friends. Yuta has never liked being wrong, and Esme has never liked the people who approached Yuta before. And yet here they are, with Yuta contemplating who the cheerful guy in front of him really is and Esme purring happily while being doted on by said cheerful guy. Perhaps, Seo Youngho would be the exception for the both of them. And so they continue their train ride with Yuta reading a novel about a dragon who robbed the money from the dwarf people —forgive him Salazar, but muggles’ fiction has always been his guilty pleasure; and Youngho cooing to a delighted purring grey kneazle on his lap.

Today’s train ride feels odd, Yuta thinks, a little bit domestic even  — with a big box of packed lunch being shared with stuttered words and red cheeks, with the sudden urge of fixing the long coat on Youngho and Esme’s sleeping figure even after a warming charm Yuta had casted beforehand, with a soft smile and thank you as a goodbye once the train stopped in the Hogsmeade train station. Johnny doesn’t feel the stretch of a red string, wrapped around his pinkie when the Slytherin and Hufflepuff part ways, but his heart feels overly content . Yuta strangely can’t wipe the small smile from his face, perhaps somewhere within him _ , _ he feels the warmth that spreads because of the tightening invisible string. 

The cold autumn wind that had always greeted him after the long train ride has never felt warmer.

* * *

 

The first time it happened Yuta had been so baffled that his bread fell and splattered his soup everywhere, eliciting weird gazes from the rest of the occupants in The Great Hall who were up at 6.30 a.m. for reasons he didn’t care. He was just lazily spreading butter on his bread, neglecting his soup for the new fresh batch of toast that suddenly popped on the long table. His brain was trying to figure out the now familiar nightmares that had moved to plague his nights ever since the Nakamoto Manor had been opened for the Dark Lord. He still did not understand the logic behind his parents’ decision, but he knew there was no point in asking, so he stayed silent and endured the oncoming dark atmosphere that somehow converted into the nightmares that kept haunting him. Yuta paid his utmost focus to the breakfast in front of him, ignoring the way students kept filling the long table as the space around him kept being empty. Well, that was until someone did occupy the space in front of him with a flurry of black robe and a sudden flunk. Yuta was not even aware that his jaw had been hanging loose because Youngho just invited himself into the empty seat in front of him with a big smile and a good morning, and honestly? Honestly, Yuta was not sure what he was supposed to do. He still doesn’t, and so it keeps happening. Not everyday, just some days within the week, especially the weekend. After the fourth time, Yuta has decided that it’s too late to say anything. Perhaps, one day, when Yuta deems Youngho as too annoying, then he’d ask Youngho to stop sitting in front of him. For the time being, Yuta would enjoy the cheery  _ good morning _ thrown his way and the occasional  _ how was your day  _ for when the tall guy decides to join Yuta at dinner.

Yuta runs a little bit late this morning though. He has been practicing a new spell all night, the one his parents send over and demand him to master before the week is over. Yuta knows it’s a hard one and there’s no way he could have mastered it in one night, but he has attempted to do so and now it’s taking a toll on his body. He silently takes the empty seat beside Youngho, having no energy or mood to even go around the table. There’s something weird moving in his stomach when he sees the tall guy who keeps sitting in the Slytherin table even though Yuta isn’t even there to begin with. When his personal space is disrupted, Youngho looks up with a cheery smile blooming on his face before it rapidly goes away.

“Are you okay?” there’s concern underlying his voice. Yuta has no courage to guess how sincere it is, and so he shrugs. The weird things in his stomach move again when he witnesses Youngho’s face drops. Perhaps, he shouldn’t eat anything to not upset his stomach anymore. In front of him, Youngho works quickly though, suddenly busy putting food on the plate.

“What are you doing?” Yuta dares ask. This is perhaps the fifth question he has thrown at Youngho ever since their train incident. Youngho smiles apologetically before putting the gathered food in front of Yuta.

“Here, eat some before your classes start. You shouldn’t skip meals, Yuta.” Yuta freezes for a second while Youngho put a warm mug of tea beside his prepared plate. Perhaps Yuta has spaced out for too long because Youngho has started tapping his shoulder while trying to break Yuta out of his reverie. “Yuta?”

“Hmm?” Suddenly there’s a pair of hands that envelops Yuta’s right hand, nudging a spoon into his hand.

“Eat.” Youngho coaxes gently, and Yuta really can’t do much beside following the order.  _ They’re warm,  _ Yuta thinks about the lingering warmth that clings into his skin and the warmth that once again blooms from his chest. And so Yuta decides to forget his inhibitions for awhile and sends the other guy a small smile with a soft  _ thank you, Youngho.  _ Yuta doesn’t see the shocked face that Youngho is sporting at the way Yuta calls his name, too busy spooning at his porridge. He doesn’t see the sudden blush that covers Youngho’s cheeks because it’s the first time Youngho has seen Yuta’s smile. Yuta sees the held back smile, though. He sees the way Youngho’s lips suddenly bloom into a wide grin because the other can’t really stop himself from smiling widely.

He thinks, perhaps, he needs to see Madam Pomfrey after breakfast to calm his upset stomach.

 

 

Yuta didn’t get a potion for his upset stomach from Madam Pomfrey that morning. He was shooed away with an endeared smile instead. Yuta didn’t understand because his stomach kept feeling weird in the weeks that followed after. Especially when Youngho  —Johnny, he had been forced to call the Hufflepuff as Johnny instead— is involved. He had to admit that he hadn’t paid enough attention to Johnny’s weird actions at first because it was nice enough to have a company, even though he tended to ignore the other guy. However now that he thinks harder about it, he has to admit that it is indeed weird, and he wants to kick himself in the ass for letting his guard down even for second. He belatedly realized that he did not know —still doesn’t know, actually— what is Johnny’s actual intention in trying to get close to Yuta. He had never tried to strike a conversation with Yuta for the past six years in their oh-so-beloved school. He had never glanced Yuta’s way ever —not when he blew up a cauldron in Johnny’s Gryffindor best friend’s face, not when he was being mocked by the rest of the class for having his boggart transforming into a slice of cake covered with peanut butter, not when Johnny was a prefect and he found Yuta crying in the abandoned bathrooms on the third floor. So, it is indeed weird that now, all of a sudden, Johnny pays a lot of attention to him. Yuta’s first assumption is that all of this is a trick to avenge his Gryffindor best friend, but then he remembers how it happened in second years and it was far too late to actually avenge a childish mistake like that. Then he thinks that this is all just a prank or an ongoing bet to make Yuta let his guard down, and then they would have something to blackmail him with. Almost immediately he erased the assumption because Johnny is a Hufflepuff, and he’s certain Johnny can never be that mean to someone else. And so he is left wondering on what changes happened between the end of the sixth year and the start of this year that might propell Johnny to be kind to him like this.

Despite all of this, he still lets Johnny to be around him, after all it is good to keep your friends close but your enemies closer. It’s Yuta’s chance to actually reveal Johnny’s  _ motives _ in befriending him —Yuta ignores the small sting in his chest whenever he thinks of the word. Unfortunately, keeping Johnny close proves to be harder executed than planned. The cheery greeting every morning, the excited wave everytime they pass in the hallway, and the unwavering smile despite Yuta showing his indifference towards the tall guy are one thing to endure, Yuta is used to those after the third week. Yuta does not remember signing up for the small touches, though. Yuta absolutely hates the way his stomach acted up whenever Johnny passed him his morning tea and their fingers brush, Yuta doesn’t like the sudden tightness in his chest whenever they finished their classes for the day, when Johnny would always run up to Yuta and sling his hand around the shorter's shoulders before leading the both of them to The Great Hall for dinner, but most importantly, Yuta absolutely despises the way Johnny tends to brush Yuta’s hair away from his eyes whenever they are having the same free study session together. Johnny always says it will disturb his studying and Yuta will always glare at Johnny with so much loathing because then he’d feel like the air is too thin for him to breathe and his chest is too constricted and his stomach is too full of fluttering feelings —Yuta feels like vomiting, which is actually worse than his hair covering his eyes because now he really can’t focus on his studying at all. He never says any of it though, and these things keep happening because Johnny seems to be the person who loves touching his friends intimately —is he Johnny’s friend now? He’s not sure he has the guts to ask.

* * *

 

“Yuta!” Yuta turns around very fast when he hears his name being shouted from the end of the hallway. He spots Johnny standing at the top of the staircase with a grin adorning his face, Yuta has to stop his steps to the library in order to witness the mesmerizing view in front of him. The wide window on the wall is adorned with colorful mosaic glass, like the ones he would find in churches. The sunray passes easily through the transparent surface, illuminating Johnny’s side profile with red and blue tinted light. Yuta is not sure what he has to do when Johnny decides to run down the stairs in high speed, his robe billowing behind him in a graceful flow as the owner skids into a stop in front of Yuta. His hands immediately finding home in both of Yuta’s shoulders, holding the smaller within arm length distance. Yuta ignores the way Johnny pants a little, the way his breath touch Yuta’s skin in the smallest caress. 

“You okay, big guy?” Yuta tries to joke a little bit. He does this now, small talking and teasing because he knows he can. Johnny, despite being the kindest person Yuta has ever known in their acquaintances of three months, is also an annoying little shit sometimes. He teases Yuta all the time, which now would be retaliated because Yuta has realized that Johnny is okay with being teased back.

“Yeah, just—” Johnny stops to take a deep breath once and goes back looking at Yuta with an adoration coloring his face. “Okay, so, the first Quidditch match is this Friday afternoon.”

Yuta looks at Johnny confusedly because despite not being in the team, Quidditch is something the school talks about constantly and Yuta is certain he has  memorized the Quidditch match schedule for the next month. “Okay… and?”

“Well, it’s Hufflepuff’s first game against Ravenclaw.” Yuta raises his eyebrows at Johnny because honestly the boy is talking in circles and Yuta doesn’t understand. Yuta gets even more confused when Johnny avoids his eyes —oh, and is that blush on his cheeks? “It’s my first game against Ravenclaw, Yuta.” There’s a whine coloring his voice and an almost pout on his lips before Yuta’s brain decides to work again.

“Are you inviting me to watch your first game, Seo Youngho?” Yuta really can’t hold back the smile that overtakes his lips. Johnny nods excitedly.

“I mean of course if you’re not busy or anything! I would totally understand if you don’t want to though.” Yuta shuts Johnny’s rambles with his finger.

“Yes, okay, I would come.” Yuta once again thinks that the grin on Johnny’s face is too bright. The Hufflepuff releases his shoulders and starts running backwards.

“I can’t wait!” he shouts after a few steps, then again once he’s far enough. “Cheer me on, Nakamoto Yuta!” Yuta is not sure whether he imagines the wink sent his way, nor the heat that take over his cheeks. For once, Yuta doesn’t hate the way his stomach flutters and his heart beats faster. He learns a new thing about Johnny, well more like he has proof about his theory of Johnny. Johnny is kind, outrageously so. And so he scratches his newest negative assumption about their bond together. Yuta has never had a friend in his life, but if Johnny wants to be his first, perhaps Yuta would try harder to let him.

Yuta comes that Friday in a dark green cardigan, and really how can Johnny not win when he sees the only green in the sea of yellow cheering for him so loudly and excitedly? It’s an absolute win for the Hufflepuff on their first match of the year.

* * *

 

“Hey, Yuta.” It all happens quickly. Too quick.

“Hmm?” They are just doing their Charm homework in the library. It is silent, safe from the sound of turning pages and quite murmur of students.

“It’s Hogsmeade week this weekend.” It is all a chill conversation, Yuta doesn’t even take his attention off his parchment. Johnny says it so naturally, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “Go out with me?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

Yuta could not comprehend what has possessed Johnny to ask him to Hogsmeade together, “Don’t you usually go with your Gryffindor and Hufflepuff friends?” On a second note, Yuta realizes how he hasn’t seen Johnny gathered together with his little group for awhile. “Are you fighting with them?” the question is thrown into the air without anyone’s permission, and Yuta can feel the embarrassment heats up his cheeks. It is not his business after all, he has been taught to always keep his nose to himself. He doesn’t expect the grin that follows his questions.

“Well, lately I’ve realized that I rather spend my time with someone else instead of third wheeling my best friends.” there’s a wink that once again accompanies Johnny’s statement which shocks Yuta to no end. Did Johnny just? It seems like Johnny doesn’t realize the emotional turmoil that is currently happening within Yuta’s brain and continues on with his explanations, “So, no, we’re not fighting, Taeil and Taeyong just need a few hours alone to get their shit together and kiss each other or something. I swear I’m ready to lock them inside the broom cupboard if they don’t date by the end of the Hogsmeade trip.” The laugh that Yuta lets out sounds strained and tensed. If Johnny notices it, he sure acts like nothing has happened. And perhaps that’s all it is. Perhaps this is just Yuta completely overthinking the situation that is not there in the first place. Johnny has always been cheeky, there’s no way the statement is anything more than it is. Yeah, of course Yuta is just projecting his opinion, after all, why would Johnny flirts with him? 

“So? What do you say? Want to spend the weekend with me?” Johnny’s smile is unwavered and so Yuta swallows the lump on his throat before summoning a small smile of his own.

“Yeah, sure, I have to stay inside on Sunday though. Homework and all.” He ignores the tinge of bitterness on his tongue at Johnny’s even wider grin.

“That would be perfect, thank you, Yuta.”

And really, Yuta would really be glad to leave his random imagination alone after the conversation ends, but life decided to mess with his brain further because for all  it’s worth the hangout didn’t feel like a simple hangout. And Yuta had to restrain himself from actually thinking about how it actually felt like but as the day progressed, he couldn’t help but to dwell on his thoughts. For the lack of a better term, it felt awfully intimate. It feels scarily similar to what a date is supposed to feel like in Yuta’s brain —not that Yuta is familiar with the term and he’s pretty certain he might  mistake a date as a friendly hangout, but he’s not that self-centered to mistake a friendly hangout as a date. The Hogsmeade weekend felt an awful lot like a date, and the worst part was the epiphany Yuta had about Johnny’s persona as a lover and that Yuta might not say no if Johnny ever asked him out again, date or not date, and that said a lot on how much fun Yuta actually had.

When Yuta met Johnny in front of the Hogwarts’ main gate, he was busy fidgeting with his scarf and coat. It was snowing, and Yuta sighed in relief when he saw the black umbrella on Johnny’s hand. Yuta was bundled up on his jacket and brown high neck woven sweater Yuta still hated the way his stomach dropped whenever Johnny grins at him. It felt weird to be the sole focus of someone’s eyesight.

“Good morning! Are you ready?” Johnny had asked in his usual cheery voice, now accompanied by an offer of his hand. Yuta hesitated, but the hand didn’t waver, and so Yuta took it while focusing all of his attention to the open ground in front of him. There was a gentle laugh, a gentle squeeze on his hand, and a gentle tug that made Yuta moved closer to Johnny’s side, right into the secluded area under the black umbrella. Yuta didn’t ask where they were going, he thought he would just follow Johnny along the way since he had no destination. After all, he was supposed to practice the new spell his father had sent him last night instead of wandering around Hogsmeade in the snow. Still, Johnny asked. Yuta thought it was a given, Johnny’s kindness as he is the Hufflepuff between the two.

“Do you have anywhere you want to go?”

Yuta shrugged, “No, not really, I thought I was just going to follow you along.”

“Are you sure?” there was hesitation in Johnny’s voice, but also excitement glinting within his eyes. They looked like a pool of honey, Yuta had realized that day.

And so the day progressed with all of Johnny’s destinations, which honestly, amused Yuta to no end because despite being in his 7th year, Johnny sure acted like a kid in Hogsmeade. They went to some stores Yuta had never actually step a foot into. Like the secluded bookstore behind The Three Broomsticks — _ Taeyong loves a good muggle novel, it’s a must within his Christmas presents list!  _ Yuta had dropped a novel recommendation of his own into the pile that Johnny asked to wrapped in baby pink paper with a silver ribbon. They also went to a really good small restaurant, which apparently served the best waffles in Hogsmeade. Yuta had dropped a really big tip and a promise to come back again someday. The day turned into a Christmas shopping day, and so it became a teamwork between the two to find good stores to collect all the things they needed —not that Yuta needed any, his parents never cared about trivial things like Christmas. Yuta introduced Johnny to a small suspicious magic shop in an alley a little bit far from the bustling of Hogsmeade. The owner was a close friend of his family, one of the few that Yuta actually likes. Johnny found the new gold cauldron he was looking for Taeil with cheaper price. They were loud together, Yuta belatedly realized. Johnny kept the conversation going with his stories and jokes, and Yuta didn’t hold back this time. He laughed, he shared bits and pieces he wanted Johnny to know about himself. Within the trousers of time where only the two of them existed, Yuta felt strangely alive. Their surrounding was silent, safe for some people walking briskly to avoid the snow, and Yuta couldn’t help but to just take everything in. There they were, having all the time in the world under the big umbrella that protect them from the snow, just talking, laughing,  _ living, _ and in that moment nothing could really dictate what they should do —no one could. Yuta tasted freedom for a moment, feeling the warmth once again spreading through the course of his blood. For one moment, when Johnny’s grin was fully intact and there were bits of snow on his black coat, Yuta felt as if everything was right. As he glanced sideways, there was a clothing store beside them, a really nice brown long coat was on display in the black mannequin. Yuta thought perhaps this year would be his first time to buy something for Christmas. As Johnny tugged the both of them to find a good lunch place, the moment passed and left behind. Yuta’s smile didn’t though; Yuta’s smile didn’t waver even until dinner had passed.

There’s an unfelt tug of the invisible string on their pinkies, wrapping, tightening, solidifying.

* * *

 

Yuta and Johnny don’t really meet again until the day the students start going home for Christmas holiday. Both were really busy for midterm exams, sure, they still kept up with each other sometimes, but even breakfast together had been quite sparse, Yuta opting to eat in his room in the dungeon while studying for exams and also the new spells his parents keep sending. He wants to scream sometimes because his parents should know it’s exam season and they would want Yuta to do his best, but the spells keep coming and the more he practices the more he feels his energy being drained from his body. Yuta doesn’t stop though, after all, he is a student first before anything else. He’s quite certain he aced quite everything beside The History of Magic, but no one ever really cares about that subject anyway so his overall scores should be good. Anyway, since all of that is done, Yuta finally feels like he can breathe again, and so he starts coming to The Great Hall early in the morning again. Perhaps with a sliver of hope to finally sit with his now favorite Hufflepuff again. There’s also a little bit of fear though, fear that the big guy would still wait for Yuta every morning, and eventually  gave up. Yuta has to scoff at his brain for that because why would Johnny even wait for him every morning, as if he could ever be that important.

As he gets into the big room, he still can’t help but to let his eyes roam over the room for a certain tall figure. The usually quiet room is now filled with almost half of Hogwarts; all busy eating, talking, laughing, saying goodbye to their friends as they would leave after breakfast hour is done. Yuta finds him —not that it’s a hard task really. Yuta finds Johnny at his own table, surrounded by other Hufflepuffs and most importantly his best friends, even the Gryffindor — _ Taeil,  _ Yuta has to correct himself. Johnny looks, for the lack of better term, down. His lips is set on a permanent pout, his eyebrows furrowed, and he fidgets with the chicken in his plate instead of eating it. Yuta doesn’t realize that his own face has settled into a scowl, and he’s not sure what to do because apparently he hates seeing a sad Johnny. There’s a small part in his brain that somehow associates Johnny with sunshine and happiness, and it hates the way Johnny doesn’t look like that right now. He almost moves toward the Hufflepuff table —no, he doesn’t really know what he would do, he just would love to change Johnny’s expression. But he stops because, again, who is he to interfere? Johnny is already surrounded by his best friends after all, they would cheer Johnny up. And so he moves to his usual destination seat at the end of the Slytherin long table, and, for Salazar’s sake, he almost manages to sit down without being noticed, but Taeyong turns to look behind his back and their eyes make contact. Yuta is not really sure about what’s happening, but Taeyong has started to talk rapidly and excitedly, making Taeil and Johnny to also look at his direction. Now Yuta is in the spotlight, three pairs of eyes are staring at him, one with excitement, one with hope, and one with plea. The Slytherin can’t quite grasp the meaning of Johnny’s eyes at him, at the silent plea, at the pout that is still intact on his lips —perhaps Johnny doesn’t realize that he’s pouting either. Well, that is until Yuta looks at the empty space beside him, (and also the way Taeyong beckons him over, but really the quite large space beside Johnny is a big giveaway). Only then everything clicks on Yuta’s mind. They want him to sit there, on the Hufflepuff table, beside Johnny. Him, Nakamoto Yuta —the Slytherin Nakamoto Yuta, feared and not to be engaged with, is beckoned over to sit beside Seo Youngho. And really, he could just sit down and start eating as if nothing happened, or even walk back out of the room, but for fuck’s sake Yuta really hates the sadness in Johnny’s eyes. Yuta’s feet move before his brain can comprehend and, without sparing any moment, his ass has occupied the space beside Johnny.

Yuta breathes in relief at the sudden smile that takes over Johnny’s face.

“Where have you been these past few weeks?” the silent question rings loudly in his ears. “I kept eating alone at your table.” Yuta really really has the urge to smack himself in the head.

“I’m sorry. I keep to myself during exam season. I should have told you, so you didn’t—” he trails off. He’s not really sure on what to say anyway so he keeps everything to himself. “You should eat, though.” He adds as an afterthought because really a man as big as Johnny should not ever skip meals if he wants his body to keep up with his activities. Johnny grins before agreeing, simply digging into his food as if nothing has happened. Yuta wants to laugh at the faces Johnny’s best friend are making; they looked quite scandalized in Yuta’s eyes.

“You really! I can’t believe you, you giant dumbass!” Taeyong screeches with a following smack to Johnny’s head. “The both of us literally begged you to eat your food properly for the last three days, and then this… this Slytherin—no offense really” Taeyong says to Yuta for a split second before going back to scolding Johnny, “—came and said one sentence and now you’re eating like nothing happened! Fuck you Seo Youngho.” Taeil doubles over in laughter before Taeyong’s speech is even done.

“Whipped giant,” the Gryffindor has said before getting a glare from Johnny. “Well, at least now he’s eating. I’m Moon Taeil by the way, this is Lee Taeyong. We’re Johnny’s friends.” he says, to which Yuta smiles because Johnny has talked about them so much, it seems like Yuta personally knows them now.

He answers out of politeness though, “I’m Nakamoto Yuta, but that should not be any news here.” There’s an apologetic tone in Taeyong’s eyes, but the smile he sends is gentle. Yuta shrugs away his pity, though he accepts the offer of friendship.

“Are you going back home?” Johnny finally pipes up. Yuta shakes his head in negative and then the pout comes back. Yuta wants to smack Johnny for that. “You look tired, Yuta.”

“I am, but it's the holiday season, so I can get more rest, especially with the castle being empty and all.” Yuta says nonchalantly. He’s not really sure about the probability of him resting during holiday, but Johnny doesn’t need to know that. Johnny doesn’t need to worry. “All of you are going home, though, right?” Yuta decides to change the topic of the conversation.

Yuta ends up accompanying Johnny to the Hogsmeade train station. The coat he ordered had come a few days ago, and Yuta decided to give it to Johnny in person since he doesn’t know Johnny’s address. It’s quite cliché, the scene that’s happening. Yuta is not sure why his heart can’t settle down to a more normal pace. He’s not sure why he’s nervous all of a sudden, it’s just Johnny after all. They are both standing in front of an opening to the train. People are bustling all around them, goodbyes are exchanged, promises are thrown in the air, Yuta can even spot some tears. It feels odd, Yuta thinks. It feels like being suspended in time with the rest of the world moving in normal pace while they are stagnant. Again, Yuta holds himself back from drowning in the brown glinting orbs that can pass as pools of honey.

“Have a good holiday, Johnny.” Yuta starts.

“You too, Yuta.” there’s a smile being sent his way, and then there’s the small touches again. Johnny’s hand comes up to his face, and his thumb caresses the area below Yuta’s eyes gently. Yuta almost wants to close his eyes to savor the warmth, the feather-like touches. It’s weird, Yuta thinks. He is never touched like this. “You look tired.” there’s a lot of concern underlying the sentence. Yuta chuckles.

“You’ve said that twice.”

“Promise me, you’ll get some rest.” For the first time, Yuta lets himself grin. A payback for all the grins Johnny has ever sent his way. But he thinks Johnny looks like Yuta has grown another head, and so he stops, ducking his head down in embarrassment. He can feel the heat pooling on his cheeks. 

Johnny gently moves his face to look at him though, “Don’t. Don’t ever hide your smiles from me.”

“I promise, I’ll get some rest.” Yuta decides to say, then pushes Johnny’s present to Johnny’s chest, forcefully removing the hand from his face because he’s not sure how much longer his heart can manage their proximity. “Here. Happy Christmas, please don’t open it before Christmas.” Yuta looks at Johnny’s face to gauge his reaction —shock, confusion.

“B-but you said you have nothing on your list…”

Yuta shrugs, “Well, apparently I do.” And then the confusion blooms into glee. So much glee that Yuta has to look away —too blinding. Perhaps it is the wrong thing to do because suddenly his body is being moved, and within the next second he finds himself being trapped within Johnny’s chest and arms. Yuta’s brain goes into overdrive. Circe, this is not a small touch, this is _not_ a small touch! But the embrace is warm and tight and Johnny slightly smells like cinnamon and lavender and Yuta really just can’t help but to melt into the hug.

Johnny feels nice — _ right. _

Wait — _ oh.  _

_ Oh shit. _

Johnny releases Yuta from his embrace as the whistle blows. Yuta hopes he doesn’t look as panicked as he’s feeling.

“Thank you.” Johnny says. Yuta hopes his face is not as red as he thinks. No, he can’t do this. Yuta has never done this before.

“Happy holiday, Yuta. Happy Christmas too.” The smile on Johnny’s face is too overwhelming. This is not supposed to happen. It’s his last year at Hogwarts, it’s supposed to be filled with stressful nights and worries for the future. There’s no time for feelings. There’s no time for emotions. Yuta can’t do this. There’s something being pushed into his hand. He looks down to find a small green box with a silver ribbon, and looks back up only to be met with a very close Johnny, and then a light kiss on his cheek. Yuta truly, absolutely, completely does not know what to do. His eyes are wide, trained solely to Johnny’s figure that is moving away from him to the train. His hands want to grasp for Johnny, to stop him from moving away, to stop him from leaving, but his body is frozen. Johnny’s grin is bright, blinding, especially with the sun illuminating his side profile. Sometimes Johnny looks like a glowing angel.

“For you! See you after the holiday, Nakamoto Yuta!” Johnny is loud, Yuta knows Johnny is loud, but he can’t even dislike him for that. There’s a sudden cheeky wink being thrown his way again —it’s the third time, Yuta’s brain pipes up. Perhaps he looks so odd standing in front of an almost departing train, looking dumbly at a cheery giant Hufflepuff. Oddly, Yuta kinds off does not care, his brain just catches up with his heart a few minutes ago and he’s currently in so much crisis. He is Nakamoto Yuta. Yuta doesn’t do crushes and romantic feelings. But again the world reminds him of how Seo Youngho is his exception to everything. Yuta realized that Johnny is not only an exception, he’s also a very endearing being. Everything about him is endearing — _ immaculate, almost. _

The train moves. The moment stops. The realization does not go anywhere. Nakamoto Yuta has a big crush on Johnny Seo. The ceremony is done, for today the earth cries in joy and the sun cheers gleefully, every corner and alley of the world celebrate the newly formed connections between the two souls made in heaven. For one lost soul finally finds where he belongs, and one searching soul finally settles on where he should be, and not a single deity could ever be happier than Fate in that moment.

* * *

 

Johnny really loves the long brown coat Yuta had given him earlier. He had kept his promise to not open it before Christmas day, and he really really hopes that Yuta would like the small charm Johnny had made —yes  _ made _ , after all seven years in Hogwarts taught you a lot of things and being one of its best students has its perks. It was a very strong protection charm, something Johnny has a lot at home in the form of bracelets and pendants, but Yuta doesn’t do both, and so he made an earring out of it. He hopes Yuta doesn’t ever have to use it but it might get handy someday.

“So, how was Operation Save Nakamoto’s Ass going?” Taeyong asks suddenly while they are lounging in Johnny’s room. Taeil perks from the sofa, attention solely trained on Johnny’s response. Johnny just shrugs.

“He looked really tired that day. Exams do that to people, but I never saw Yuta in that state after exams before. Even with the both of you going back and forth being in number one, he is still one of the top scorers.” Johnny has to agree with Taeil because after all he really never saw Yuta that tired before.

“Do you think it has begun? Whatever it is they’re planning to do with him?” There’s both concern and horror in Taeyong’s voice. Johnny doesn’t want to believe it.

“But like how do you even sacrifice someone to raise the Dark Lord or whatever? Even if the process has begun do you really think Yuta would agree to do that to himself?” Taeil’s question hits a spot within Johnny. A spot that makes his heart clenches painfully.

“What if he does not know? Merlin, what if he’s just another piece in their games?” Taeyong’s expression changes at that. He starts worrying his lips, a sign that he’s thinking very hard.

“It’s possible. From what I’ve seen, Yuta is not the kind to agree to any kind of life sacrifices. Even for the good cause.” There’s a heavy silence that embrace the small of group of friends, a long silence that is finally ruptured by Taeil’s gentle tone.

“You know you can go to the Ministry about this, right Johnny?” There’s guilty in his voice, as if he’s not supposed to say the sentence. “Like, above everything, we’re all just students and this concerns the entire Wizarding world. It’s not your job to save Yuta. It’s the Ministry’s.” Johnny agrees with with the guilt. Taeil should never said anything.

“I can’t.”

“Why? Johnny, you know this is dangerous.”

“You don’t understand, Illie.”

“Then please! For the love of Merlin, please help me understand! Because all I can see is a reckless student trying to meddle with something that he should not, Johnny!” Taeyong moves from his designated place to Taeil’s side, comforting arms are thrown around him as the younger murmurs comforting words. After a few moments, Taeyong takes the lead of the conversation (because just like in every discussion he’s always the one with a cool head).

“You know Taeil is right Johnny, if Yuta really is not evil then the Ministry will help him.”

“No, they’re not, Yongie. Don’t you see? Even  _ you _ said if,  _ if  _ Yuta really is not evil. But I know him now, and it is not supposed to be a conditional sentence. Yuta is not evil. The Ministry won’t even see that. The Ministry would see Nakamoto and sacrifice and the Dark Lord in one sentence, and that’s it. He’s done for life because they don't care about the Wizarding world. They care about capturing the Dark Lord followers for their own power, and titles, and money. And I’m not subjecting Yuta into that mess.” Johnny has to take a pause before he lets his emotions get the best of him. “I just want to save him. He deserves to be saved.” He finally says in a trembling voice. Knowing Yuta for the past three months had been eye opening for Johnny. Yuta turns out to be better that whatever images Johnny had conjured about him. There’s no snobby attitudes, there’s no arrogance in the way he projects himself to people, there’s not even a single mean remark Johnny had received from the guy. Sure, he’s silent most of the times, but Johnny lately thinks it’s because he has never exactly had anyone to talk to. Knowing Yuta has shifted his image of big, bad and intimidating Slytherin into an awkward but sometimes fun and mostly very smart Slytherin, who has a very pretty cat and is very kind to other animals.

“And do you really think that you can save him by manipulating his feelings?” Taeyong asks again.

“You make it sound like I’m the bad guy.” Johnny glares at Taeyong. It’s not fair, they had all agreed to his plans since even before the year started.

“But you are, don’t you see? I see the way he looks at you, Youngho. Whether he has realized it or not, you’ve done it, you’ve captured him. He’s wrapped around your fingers now. And then what? What would you do after this, Youngho? Pretend that you love him? Get together in a relationship? Distract him until your lies are revealed? And then we’re all gonna die anyway because he’s going evil from heartbreak. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not, Merlin, Yongie. I just want to save him.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t.”

“Perhaps you should consider that not everything is a lie. Perhaps you should know me better than to accuse me for playing with love.” Taeyong and Taeil have never heard Johnny speaks that coldly, not to anyone. And it silences them so quickly because for the past three months they had never actually entertained the idea of Johnny actually falling for Yuta. Perhaps they’re the ones who should change their mindset about Yuta. Taeyong’s eyes are suddenly filled with guilt, while Taeil tries to break from Taeyong’s hold, advancing towards Johnny. Johnny hates it. Johnny hates the guilt and the underlying pity behind their gazes, and so he cuts them from his sight. He cuts the rest of the world from his sight.

“Perhaps you guys should go.”

“Johnny, we’re sorry—”

“I know, but later, tomorrow,  _ someday _ , just not now.” Johnny takes a deep breath before opening his eyes again, a plea because he’s not sure how long he can keep his composure intact. He sees Taeyong nods before he can even say please, and within seconds and loud cracks, Johnny is finally alone in his room.

When people look at Johnny, perhaps they would associate him with impulsiveness or something random, something  _ exciting _ . And sometimes he did live up to those expectations. Like the time he signed up for the Quidditch keeper on his 2nd grade and ended up being the Captain for 3 years now, or when he thought it was fun to sneak up to his dad’s study for some books on highly dangerous beasts and ended up hearing something he shouldn’t, or when he came up with the idea that love will always be the strongest form of what on earth even more than darkness and ended up with his current ongoing plan. Unfortunately, people forget. People forget that in order to be successful at Quidditch he has to be good at strategizing. People forget that in order to keep a very big secret there’s a whole lot of planning. People forget that he’s probably the most hopeless romantic person on earth to ever think that love is stronger than anything. And Johnny had done that, strategizing, meticulous planning, making sure that his plan won't backfire because while Yuta deserves to be saved, he also doesn’t deserve any heartbreak in the process. Everything that he did had gone through so much thinking that sometimes he lost sleep over it, from morning breakfast to dinner to library hangouts to the Quidditch game invite to the Hogsmeade date — _ yes date,  _ because that’s what Johnny intends it to be and it wouldn’t ever exist in the first place if Johnny is still not sure about his own feelings. Johnny likes Yuta, immensely so.

He doesn’t know when it happened or how it happened. Perhaps it’s somewhere in between their breakfast hangouts, perhaps it’s when Yuta starts opening up to him, perhaps it’s somewhere in between Yuta’s playful glares  with blushes high on his cheeks and Yuta’s first open wide grin at Hogsmeade station last week. Johnny doesn’t know, and quite frankly he doesn’t really care. He thinks whoever tries to get to know Yuta will eventually fall for his charm, who is Johnny to resist such power anyway? He would love more chances to see Yuta’s smile; it’s a pity that the rest of the world couldn’t witness such beauty because Johnny’s sure the same very smile could heal someone. Johnny doesn’t know what he’s going to do next or what he needs to do for Yuta to not fall victim to his parents’ plans, but then again he still has two weeks of holiday to go over his own. He falls into slumber thinking that, perhaps, the first thing he’d like to do is to get more dates with a certain Slytherin.

* * *

 

Sometimes even the most meticulously planned detail could go wrong in the face of reality. More dates have proven to be an impossible feat. Johnny got back to Hogwarts ground a day after the new year, a week before the academic week starts again. Taeyong and Taeil want to live their holiday to the fullest, and so Johnny decided to go back to school, perhaps spending more time with Yuta. He had missed him. The view that greets him upon stepping into The Great Hall has him crossed out every single plan he made. Yuta is looking worse for wear. There are dark bags under his eyes, the way he carries himself screams like he’s going to fall over anytime. For the lack of better terms, Yuta looks burnt out. Johnny can’t help the worry that clouds over his mind. He walks briskly to the spot Yuta was sitting in and once again takes over the seat in front of the smaller boy. Just like that first day, Yuta once again looks at him with so much surprise his eyes widen like saucers.

“You’re—” Yuta starts but Johnny does not have any time for small talk, really. Johnny hates small talks.

“I thought you promised me to get some rest.” Even he can hear the hardness in his own voice. Johnny almost flinches because really what Yuta has been doing is none of his business, but with the amount of worry that’s clouding over Johnny’s brain, he really doesn’t care at the moment. Offended Yuta would be a problem for future Johnny.

“You’re back early.” Yuta finally says after a small silence, completely ignoring Johnny’s statement. Johnny doesn’t take his eyes off Yuta’s face, witnessing the crease between his brows deepens. “Why?”

Johnny shrugs and decides to go with honesty, “I have nothing else to do at home. And I miss you, so here I am.” Yuta is the one who ends up avoiding Johnny’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Not in a million years Johnny would have imagined to witness Yuta apologizing to anyone, especially not him. His heart clenches at the actual guilt that laced Yuta’s voice.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Johnny decides to finally just intrude Yuta’s personal space. He has given Yuta three months to adapt to his presence, he deems it enough time before he just have to forced Yuta to accept Johnny’s presence in his life. It has to be enough because Johnny has a deadline and time is slipping away from his fingers. There’s a heavy silence that hang upon their surrounding before Yuta shakes his head in negation before quickly avoiding Johnny’s eyes. Johnny sighs softly,  _ baby steps. _

“But you know right?” The Hufflepuff doesn’t back down because, despite everything, he wants Yuta to know. He  _ needs _ Yuta to know that Johnny is here for him.

“Know what?”

“That you can talk to me about anything you want to, because I’m here Yuta.” Johnny is not sure whether the blush that is blooming on Yuta’s cheek is just in his head or not because the Slytherin quickly ducks his head down. But Yuta nods gently and Johnny is ready to see it as a win. “What do you want to do?” Johnny asks again after a few pauses because Yuta is neither touching his food nor striking a conversation. If he’s being real, Johnny just wants Yuta to sleep. There’s no answers coming from the younger though.

“Yuta? Yuta!” Johnny shakes Yuta’s shoulder a bit. Yuta looks up from his plate very quick before sending Johnny a confused hum. There’s a tired glaze clouding on Yuta’s eyes, the light sparkle that Johnny was used to seeing decorating the dark orbs is now gone. Johnny hates it. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m just tired, Johnny, don’t worry.” And Johnny tries his hardest to not worry, but the slur on Yuta’s voice is not helping. But by the second time Yuta’s head nodding off to the table, he decided to take the initiative. He stands up from his seat and hauls Yuta up to his feet.

“Can you walk or should I carry you?” he doesn’t waste any time to holds Yuta’s hands and pulls him out of The Great Hall to the more empty corridor. The castle is still empty since it is still the holiday season, and Johnny has every plan to abuse the situation to his liking. When they stop and Yuta’s body sways right in front of Johnny, he deems it not secure to ask Yuta to walk by himself. Johnny gently forced Yuta’s face to look at him, both of his hands trap Yuta’s cheeks. His eyes are half-lidded and glazed, it’s like Yuta is not even aware of what’s happening around them anymore, not even the distance between their faces.

“Merlin’s sake, what happened to you?” Johnny asks in a whisper.

“Too tired,” and Johnny believes him. God, he’s not sure what’s Yuta doing to himself to the point of nodding off on Johnny’s palms. The taller finally lowers himself and les Yuta to just plops down on is back, carrying the other securely in his back with ease. He can feel Yuta’s breathe on his nape and the way Yuta moves around to keeps himself awake.

“Just sleep, Yuta. Get some rest.” Johnny says gently as he climbs up the moving staircases to his dorm. He’s not risking going to the dungeon and being seen by a bunch of Slytherins, and starting another rumor mills. After a few moments, Johnny finally feels the body behind his back relaxing, completely melting to Johnny’s figure. There’s a small smile on his lips that he can’t hold back as he realizes the implications of this particular moment. The worry still hasn’t cleared up from his mind, but there’s also a relief upon the fact that Yuta is sleeping. There’s a space for quickening heartbeats and a rush of blood to his head that makes him dizzy for a moment because Yuta is here, on his arms, sleeping —because Yuta feels safe enough on Johnny’s arms to actually lower all of his defences and sleep. He knows no Slytherin would sleep within the vicinity of the people they don’t trust, no matter how tired they are. Johnny leads the both of them to the kitchen, tickling the pear on the bowl of fruits painting that will open the room to the Hufflepuff dormitory, and keeps walking until he reaches his own room, ignoring the few younger Hufflepuffs that lazes around the common room. Johnny feels grateful that all of his roommates are still on their holidays, leaving the room empty besides for Johnny’s unopened luggage. Johnny carefully lies a sleeping Yuta upon his bed, gently arranging his limbs to a more comfortable positions under the duvet. There are soft snores coming out from Yuta’s slightly opened mouth which Johnny can’t help but to deem as cute.  _ A kitten, _ Johnny thinks, sometimes Yuta acts like a kitten. He leaves the guy to sleep comfortably as Johnny starts working on rearranging his clothes and thinking of a plan to find out what Yuta has been doing while he was away because he can’t let Yuta to keep doing this, not unless he wants Yuta to end up as a dead man.

 

Yuta sleeps for a long time —13 hours to be exact. By the time he opens his eyes, Johnny has started another cycle of worrying about the guy’s well-being. Yuta wakes up in an oddly adorable way, Johnny thinks, oddly methodical. There’s a few seconds of his eyes fluttering to open, and then there’s a cute scrunch on his nose  before he’s finally aware of his surroundings. After a long moment of stretching his back, he finally sits on the bed, eyes wandering around the room before zooming on Johnny’s figure right across his bed. Johnny waves and smiles as a greeting.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Yuta does another scrunch of his face at the nickname. “Well, it’s night time now, but you got what I meant. We missed dinner, by the way.”

“Is this your dorm?”

Johnny shrugs, “What? Doesn’t live up to your expectations?” Yuta looks at Johnny in alarm quickly before shaking his head to say no. Johnny chuckles. “I’m just joking. But if you’re thinking about more yellow, then you’ll be disappointed because there’s no way we’ll be sleeping with yellow curtains.” Johnny grins before continuing. “Are you hungry?” The way Yuta nods with his sleepy eyes and bed hair is absolutely adorable, Johnny might combust. He leads the way to the kitchen, politely asking the house elves for a dinner for two. Johnny laughs at the way Yuta’s eyes widen when the house elf called Itzy bounces towards their way with a tray full of food for at least four people.

“Is the food enough for Sir Seo and his friend?” Johnny grins a little apologetically.

“Perhaps you can take off half of it, Itzy?”

“Oh? But Sir and Sir’s friend have to eat a lot! Too skinny!” Surprisingly, Yuta’s laugh echoes around the kitchen. Johnny’s chest feels warm at the sound.

“How about we take off a quarter of it?” Yuta asks kindly to the now shocked house elf. Her green eyes gets even bigger with each second before she snaps her finger removing a quarter of the food. Yuta keeps his smile intact. “Thank you, Itzy.”

“O-of course!” Johnny now witnesses the way Itzy stutters and bows deeply, she looks starstruck. “Itzy hopes the two Sirs enjoy their foods.” she says before suddenly vanishing to God knows where. Johnny laughs at Yuta’s confused face.

“She likes you. But in her defense, no one can not like you after you smile like that.” Johnny opens the painting with a grin, motioning for Yuta to keep going. “Well,  _ in our defense _ would be a more perfect term.” He mutters once Yuta is within hearing distance

* * *

 

Johnny backs off Yuta’s case once the classes start to get busy again, one of the few reasons being Yuta has gone back to his usual indifferent self. Well, that is until two weeks has passed and in Friday, Yuta’s owl drops a white envelope in the middle of their table, almost getting soaked in Johnny’s coffee. Johnny pays attention to the way Yuta’s face falls for a second before the expression is completely wiped out of his face like it never happens —too fast for anyone to catch, unless they’re already looking at the guy. And then the cycle starts again like a second hand of a clock. Yuta vanishes on Saturday, not coming on breakfast and dinner, and then he looks so tired like he’s been run off by a truck when he finally shows up on Monday morning. Yuta plops beside Johnny —not in front, and just leans over Johnny’s shoulder. Suddenly Johnny is reminded of the morning all those months ago when Yuta first came to breakfast looking so tired and sit beside Johnny. And then the realization hits him. This is not a one time thing. This has been an ongoing thing that somehow eats Yuta up from the inside. And as he keeps trying to remember all the similar things that might have happened but slipped away from his attention, Johnny realizes there’s an interval for this process. Johnny doesn’t know what Yuta is doing to himself, but it’s bad and it’s absolutely destroying his body in the most subtle way. 

_ “Do you think it has begun? Whatever it is they’re planning to do with him?”  _ Taeyong’s voice echoes in his mind. He can feel his own figure tensing upon the truth. It has begun. It has begun for so long, and no one knows about it. Johnny looks at Yuta on his shoulder. He has easily fallen asleep, the bags under his eyes has returned but now are accompanied by his thinning cheeks. Johnny’s heart shatters as he runs his fingers gently upon Yuta’s brown ash locks and the guy does not even stir. Johnny lets Yuta sleep more than he should, and he’s absolutely grateful to their History of Magic Professor for taking a sick day off because that means they have free time until the second class starts.

It gets worse. Now that Johnny knows everything and that he can pick up the signs, it’s only getting worse. That week went on as if nothing happened, but then the next week comes and it’s as if there’s an invisible creatures that’s latching to the Slytherin, sucking off all of his energy, all of his life force. Yuta starts to stops eating, not altogether of course, but Johnny can see it. Johnny can see the way his plate portions get smaller as the days passed, the way Yuta complains of not being hungry even though it’s past lunch and he hasn’t eaten a bite since morning, the way he gets full after at the most four spoons of rice, the way he gets paler day by day. Yuta looks sickly pale on some bad days and looks as if there’s death looming after him on normal days, and Johnny keeps coaxing him —to eat, to sleep, to get some rest, to stop worrying about his homework and just sleep for some goddamn hours, but nothing really changes. Johnny is left to drown in his worry because it has been almost a month, and there’s so much he can actually do without actually confronting Yuta about it.

“Why wouldn’t you just ask, Johnny? Merlin’s beard!” Taeil has actually gotten angry at Johnny when he told his friends about Yuta. “For fuck’s sake, it has been a month! The git might die or something!” Johnny returns to his dorm with a heavy promise to actually confront Yuta and a threat of Taeil’s snapping his broom in half if the promise doesn’t happen within the next three days.

* * *

 

“Yuta?” Johnny calls his name gently in front of the hearth as he stops writing his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, eyes looking up to the direction where Yuta is lying down on his front with his wand at the back of his ear and hands unrelentlessly writing on his parchment. They are currently lazing around in the Room of Requirement at midnight, pulling an all-nighter to catch up with their homework. It’s so late after curfew, and they can’t exactly stay or even enter one or the other’s dorm. And so they go to the next best hiding place, the Requirement Room, which currently providing them a cozy and spacy room with a hearth and beds. 

Yuta hums his acknowledgement without looking at Johnny. “What are you doing?” There’s so much hesitation coloring Johnny’s voice. Yuta’s hand stops moving at the question and suddenly Johnny is facing a very confused face.

“I’m… doing my DADA essay? Just as you’re doing the same essay?”

“On the weekend, I mean. What were you doing on the weekend?” 

Yuta doesn’t answer. Yuta doesn’t answer for a very long time that Johnny is afraid of upsetting him. Perhaps he would get mad and ask Johnny to get out of the room for nosing in his business, or worse, perhaps Yuta won’t even answer and just go back to his essay, leaving Johnny with this awkward and heavy silence. Yuta’s face is devoid of emotion, his eyes calculating. There’s a bright orange hue that illuminates his skin, mirrored through the dark orbs, making the feather shaped earring on his ear glint. Johnny waits as the clock ticks by until finally Yuta closes his eyes. There’s a decision on the relaxed stance of his brows. For a split second all the worries and concerns on Johnny’s brain clear up, leaving an empty space for his thoughts to finally be heard. For a split second, looking at Yuta’s profile being illuminated by the fire like that, Johnny can only think of one word.

_ Mesmerizing. _

“I was practicing.” is the only response that he gets out of Yuta. Johnny doesn’t know whether he should continue or just leave it be. The Hufflepuff stays silent, letting the moment slips away from his fingers, letting the fear of ruining the fragile bond between them absolutely crumbles. Yuta goes back to finishing his essay in silence.

It’s probably after another 30 minutes that Yuta finally talks again, “My parents, they sent me spells.” Johnny’s ears perk up at the new information, but he stays silent, letting the other to continue. “They sent me spells to master every couple of weekend, and so I practice the spell.” There’s a reserved tone in Yuta’s voice. As if it’s something he doesn’t like doing but he just has to anyway. Because it’s his parents, and he can’t do anything but accept their request because that’s just how it is.

“May I ask why?” Johnny finally decides to open his mouth, but Yuta only shrugs.

“It’s my parents. I rather practice those spells here than at the Manor, less risk of being supervised by them.” There’s nothing the taller guy really understands from Yuta’s explanation, but there’s a building fear in his gut from actually understanding Yuta’s implications.

“You’re always so tired after they sent you those, you know?” He decides on the easy route.

“They’re quite hard, so that might happen. Don’t—”

“And you lost weight. A lot of weight.” Johnny cuts him, “You look sickly pale every once in awhile, and that first time you passed out, you weren’t even strong enough to stand on your own feet. These past few days, you keep eating less and less, and I can’t ask you to get some rest because you do these all nighters with me to get your homework done. Merlin, Yuta, do you even realize all of that?” Johnny thinks he has done a good job in hiding his worries. Johnny thinks he has appeased those concerns by putting one more extra spoonful of porridge in Yuta’s bowl every morning, or by accompanying him on all the nights Yuta didn’t sleep, or by simply making sure Yuta has written down all the notes class in their joint lesson. Apparently he hasn’t.

Yuta’s face is once again unreadable. This time Johnny is not afraid because he needs Yuta to see his own condition. He needs Yuta to stop.

“What kind of spells are you practicing?” There’s another small shrug coming from the smaller guy.

“I don’t know. I have never seen any of them.”

“For Merlin’s sake, Yuta, are you mad? You don’t just go start practicing unknown spells you don’t know about! Especially, not the one you don’t know the effects of!” There’s a flinch on Yuta’s shoulders that goes unnoticed by Johnny. Johnny knows he’s starting to get angry, that his tone is higher than sharper than his usual voice. Unfortunately, knowing doesn’t mean stopping, at least not until he gets his opinion across. “What are you? Five?”

Yuta stays silent, his shoulders tensed and his essay abandoned. Johnny groans before harshly picking up his quill to continue his own assignment.

“They’re from my parents.” Yuta’s voice comes small and he leaves it at that as if that can explain everything wrong with his situation. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” And Johnny should have really just shut up, but Yuta has been absolutely out of it for the last week and Johnny’s brain is constantly blanketed with so much concerns that he just blurts it out before picking up his belongings and leaving the room.

“No, you don’t. You absolutely don’t know because if you do, you would have stopped by now instead of letting them destroying you piece by piece, bits by bits from the inside for some sanctimonious acts.”

Johnny leaves. He doesn’t even know why he leaves because he is certain leaving Yuta alone is not the answer. That does not mean his body wants to listen to him though. His feet keep moving briskly in the hallways, bringing him to places he doesn’t even know because his eyes are suddenly blurred by tears. All the worries, concerns, stress, and anxiety have finally swarmed him over. It feels like drowning. He’s tired, tremendously so. He’s tired of being alert 24/7 over the state of well being of the person he absolutely adores. He’s tired of planning what he should do to save the man he wants to spend more times of his life with. He’s tired of constantly being plagued by his own anxiety on whether his plan would actually succeed in the end. He’s tired of feeling like he’s the only one who cares, like he’s the only one fighting to save an actual human life. Perhaps this is all there is. Perhaps no matter how hard Johnny tries he won’t ever be able to change what was already written in Yuta’s life book. Perhaps he should just give—

His feet skid into a halt without his command.

It’s another second before his brain can comprehend that there’s a hand tugging on his arm, holding him in place.

There’s another moment of pause before he hears the soft sniffles coming from behind him. Johnny turns around only to meet a certain Slytherin, shaking, probably crying. 

“Don’t leave.” it’s a soft whisper follows by another soft sob. Perhaps a soft plead would be more appropriate to describe it. “Johnny Suh, please don’t leave me.” There’s such a broken tone underlying Yuta’s voice that Johnny's tears just keep falling. Johnny never wants to see Yuta in this kind of state again. Merlin’s beard, and to think that he’s the cause of this. To think that he almost — _ almost,  _ give up on the man in front of him. God, Johnny hates himself.

His limbs move quickly to remove Yuta’s gripping hold from his arms, as he pulls the younger into his embrace and holds him tightly. Yuta breaks down completely in his chest, muttering apologies in between sobs — _ that he makes Johnny worry so much, that he’s not taking care of himself, that he’s a so fucking selfish _ — and whispering promises after every shake of his shoulders —t _ hat he would be better, that he would eat more, that he would sleep more _ — that he would do everything and more, but  _ please, please don’t leave me.  _ And Johnny does not even know what to answer because a few minutes ago he really thought that he should just give up on the man that’s currently begging for him to stay, when really he should be the one grovelling on Yuta’s feet for forgiveness.

“Stop practicing the spells, Yuta, they’re killing you.” Johnny says softly in his ear, there’s a desperate tinge in his voice. He decides to just throws away everything he has planned. At this point, he doesn’t feel like he deserves anything from Yuta, especially his heart.

“I know, Johnny, but they’d force me to practice the spells at home anyway. And if I’m dying, I rather die here because of my own doing instead of at the manor with wooden sticks and leather belts.” Yuta whisper desperately. Johnny closes his eyes tightly at what he hears, his arms tightening instinctively on Yuta’s smaller figure, as if he can shield him from everything bad in the world. Johnny doesn’t hesitate to say his next sentence. Yuta deserves to know.

“They’re sacrificing you.” Johnny says slowly. Yuta tensed for a second before completely relaxing back on Johnny’s embrace. “They’re sacrificing you to raise the Dark Lord.”

“I know. I know what the spells are for. I managed to connect the dots a few weeks ago.”

Johnny takes a step back to look incredulously at Yuta’s face, “Why don’t you say anything? Why are you keeping your silence, for fuck’s sake, Yuta?”

“Do you really think it would matter, Johnny?” Yuta raises his eyebrows to challenge a response from the taller guy. “I can’t do anything. I am an 18 years old student, I am not yet graduated, and above all I am a Nakamoto first before I am human in the wizarding world’s perspective. I am completely alone. They’d send me to Azkaban faster than you can blink.”

“Please stop practicing the spell, please we can figure this out together, Yuta.”

“Is this the reason?” There’s a sad glint in Yuta’s eyes, something so small but so strong that Johnny’s breath is knock out of his lungs. “Is this the reason you decided to get closer to me?”

Johnny can’t bring himself to lie, not after everything. He can’t bring himself to answer the question either. The self hatred that is simmering on his guts runs through the course of his veins when he sees Yuta’s eyes filled with another glaze of tears. This one feels even more heartbreaking than before. There’s a bitter smile adoring his pretty lips.

“Am I easy? Because even now I don’t want anything else but to go back to your embrace. You’ve been lying to me for half a year, and still the safest place I’ve felt is in between your arms. Johnny Suh, am I that easy?” The tears that run down Johnny’s cheeks are just a mere reflection of Yuta’s own feelings.

“Yuta you deserve everything good in life, and I might get closer to you because of this one particular reason. I have a plan, you know? Perhaps if I managed to make you fall in love with me, you wouldn’t be so evil as to agree to your parents' plan.” Johnny looks at Yuta’s deep brown eyes. The eyes that are once again missing their sparks. “My plan failed once I got to know you. You were never evil in the first place. You are too good for your own good. And I fell for you. I don’t know when or how, but I fell for you and I haven’t stopped falling.” 

Johnny prays to any deity so that Yuta can hear the sincerity in his voice, hear the way Johnny’s heart beats so loud probably the entire hallway can hear it. “All of this is not a plan. I am absolutely enamored with you that I can’t sleep at night, fearing you’d be gone the next day, fearing that you wouldn’t sit in front of me again at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, fearing that no matter how hard I try, I would just fail because it has started feeling like I’m fighting alone, and you just keep slipping away from my grasp.” He takes a step closure, erasing the small distance between their bodies. He put his hand between them, palms up, an offer for the other to take it. “I won’t leave anywhere, Yuta, I should be the one begging on my knees for you to never leave me.”

Yuta looks at the offered hand for so long before looking up at Johnny, eyes searching for something that Johnny is not certain of. “And what if we’re together?” the Slytherin challenges, there’s a hard edge to his voice. “He’s the Dark Lord, Johnny. We’re Hogwarts students.”

“I am a Seo, Yuta, just as you are a Nakamoto. There’s a reason everyone calls him the Dark Lord instead of his name, There’s power behind names.” Johnny’s smile is now borderline dangerous. Yuta squints at the mischievous glint in Johnny’s eyes.

“You have actually think this through, haven’t you? You have a complete plan on how to save me.” Johnny grins at that.

“I rarely sleep on holidays.” The taller shrugs, then his gaze softens, the soft smile coming back to the luscious lips Yuta really wants to taste. “But it would only happen with your consent. I love you, Nakamoto Yuta, please stop harming yourself with the spells and be my boyfriend.”

Yuta can’t help the grin that adores his lips at Johnny’s love laced voice, there’s a blush adorning the apple of his cheeks. He takes Johnny’s stretched hand and smiles at the taller boy. His most favourite giant Hufflepuff.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Absolutely.”

* * *

 

Yuta thinks kissing Johnny is the best thing on Earth. The way the rest of the world melts into nothing significant, the way Yuta can only focus on the pools of honey that are Johnny’s eyes, the way his heart swells ten times in his chest he feels like he’s suffocating but in the best way possible, the way he is enveloped within the smell of cinnamon and lavender —the smell of safety,  _ of home,  _ the way there’s no colors bursting behind his lips nor sparks that zing his skin, the way there’s only a cocoon of warmth that makes Yuta melt happily. Kissing Johnny is being stagnant in time and experiencing every single nerve in his body being dulled into a happy buzz of love and fondness. 

Yuta is always ready to get high on kissing him, on the feeling of Johnny.

“And that ladies and gentlemen marks the win of Falmouth Falcons in this Quidditch season.” The commentator starts before trying to fake cough inconspicuously, for said MVP of the game still hasn’t stopped kissing the life out of his lover. “Uh, yes, Mr. Suh, Johnny? Perhaps reserve the PDA for your wedding in April?” Not a single word is heard as both 21 year olds are still very much wrapped within their world. “Seo Youngho, hands off the boy right now or I would postpone the wedding.”

The strict voice breaks through Johnny’s love hazed mind. He gives another peck to the love his life before smiling sheepishly at the commentator box. His father looks at both boys sternly, but there’s a playful hidden smile at the corner of his lips. “Sorry, Dad!”

Johnny’s plan sailed smoothly ever since that night Yuta took his hand in the empty hallway. They got together, and then a few weeks later Johnny’s father was elected to be the Head of the Auror Division within The Ministry of Magic. It was something they have known for awhile, something that Johnny had waited so patiently to use to his benefit. The title comes with instant fame, and that is exactly the moment Johnny flaunts his relationships with Yuta, because  **The Son of Auror Seo is Rumoured to be Dating Someone from The Nakamoto Family**  is definitely worthy to be in the morning paper’s deadline for a week.

Two years later, Johnny has won his third professional Quidditch game, and has a wedding in April with said Nakamoto. It is a meticulous plan, something they build over fame and publicity so it won’t ever go out of the society’s head. With Johnny’s father as the Head of Auror, and Yuta dating the Head of Auror’s son, there is no way the Nakamotos could ever execute their sacrificing plan. The wedding is real, though, Taeyong thought Johnny had gone bonkers to actually ask Yuta to marry him in his 20s. Taeil laughed at Yong’s scandalized face when Yuta actually cried and accepted the proposal. Johnny had come into his life when he was least expecting it, but he made a home in every nook and cranny of Yuta’s messy life that he’s now tangled within Johnny’s web of existence, happily so because being tangled in Johnny’s love is probably the best feeling in Yuta’s life.

Even if they didn’t make it at the end, Yuta thinks he rathers fight for what makes him happy at the moment than being sacrificed to some irrelevant dead evil wizard. And so, he would keep fighting for his happiness, for the happiness of the people he loved most. Even if it means saying  _ I do  _ at 21, even if it means being swept off his feet in front of the altar at 21. After all, kissing Johnny still feels like the best thing on Earth. 

Seo-Nakamoto Yuta, alive and well, and most importantly happy with his loving husband. Tonight, Fate raises her glass of champagne in her final celebration of love for the two souls, a match that starts in heaven, a match that ends on Earth.


End file.
